16 September 2013

Lingonberries Below Freezing

This morning, Little Bear and I bundled up to go pick lingonberries with a friend and her three kids. It was maaaaaybe 25 degrees, but gorgeously clear and sunny, and we'd already made the plans and prepared the kids, and we decided to just go for it. I wasn't about to pull out the brand new snowgear for a snow-less tromp through the woods and have it get all stained and ripped up, so Little Bear wore:

- socks

- a flannel shirt

- fleece footie pajamas

- my wool socks, pulled up to his hips

- heavy jeans

- a hooded sweatshirt

- two pairs of socks on his hands

- a not-hooded sweatshirt

That's three to four good layers, in case anyone's worrying about him. He was very warm. Also less mobile than usual, but hey, you can't have everything. I wore:

- t-shirt

- hoodie

- jeans

- wool socks

- xtratufs

I was also plenty warm, although picking frozen berries does make your fingers a little chilly. (Thus the socks on his hands.)

The morning was lovely: crisp air, huge berries, golden leaves flashing in the sun, Little Bear hitting bushes and yelling in frustration because he couldn't crawl around like he did on Friday... We finally found a clearing with berries around the edges, and he was very happy crawling around between stumps on the ground while I picked nearby. His early histrionics meant I didn't get to pick nearly as much as I'd hoped--and it was so painful to leave all of those great big beautiful berries untouched!--but we wound up having a good time and getting about a quart of berries.

He was happy to shed the extra layers and nurse when we got back to the car, and he fell asleep before I even started driving home! That wound up being a good thing, because I made a wrong turn and added at least ten minutes to our drive, but I got to enjoy the lovely fall colors while he napped. I decided not to change out of my jeans, stained from kneeling on berries, when we got home on the off chance that I'd make it back out into the woods closer to home to pick some more this afternoon. It doesn't look likely now, but anything's possible.

After we got home and Little Bear woke up, he "painted" the kitchen floor with a bowl of water and a basting brush while I hurried to clean the berries and stick them in the freezer. It's such a good feeling to see the freezer filling up, especially as winter keeps reminding us that it's almost here!